Agenda - Public Works Committee - 03/20/2018

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Third Prize Essay About Pioneer Days in Our County Constance Hilton Writes About First Hotel and Trading Post In Ramsey We did not have room to print the third prize winning essay in the His- tory of Anoka county last week, so are doing so now. It was written by Constance Hilton, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Harry Hilton. The First Hotel and Trading Post ir. Ramsey Township This hotel and trading post is in- teresting not only because it was the first one in Ramsey township, but also because of the part that the Bowers family had in operating it. Mrs. W. D. Briramer of Anoka and her daugh- ter, Mrs. Charles Smith, belong to this family. John D. Bowers came from Blair county in Pennsylvania in 1850. He returned to Pennsylvania in 1851 and then came back with his wife and two children. They came by steamboat by way of the Ohio and Mississippi, rivers. One of their stops was at St. Paul. They then came up the river to Anoka county. The two children were Cecelia and Charles. Cecelia! is now Mrs. W. D. Brimmer of Anoka and Charles was Charles Bowers of Anoka. At that time Cecelia was eleven years of age and Charles seven. They went to live in the house where the Harry Warneke house now stands. They lived there for two years and ran a hotel and trading post. In those days it was no easy' matter to come to an entirely strange place and build up a prosperous trade with the Indians. There were so many hardships to be endured. I will now tell you some of the in- teresting and amusing incidents which happened at this house. The Chippewas and the Sioux In- dians, who were encamped back of their place on the Mississippi river, would come up and play with the ehil dren. They loved very much to play with the Indian children but they thought they might have been a lit- tle cleaner. It must have been very interesting to live so very near an Indian camp. There were no other children to ',lay with. In those cloys gold was very plenti- fui among the Indians. It came in two and a half dollar and five dollar coins. The government paid the In- dians in gold. The Indians were very ignorant and when the traders came to trade furs and other articles they would manage to get all their money away from them. The Indians had no sense of the value of money. They sometimes paid Mrs. Bowers five dol- lars for one meal. Many traders came by on their way to the northern trading nests and fur companies. They seemed to be very glad to stop and rest and have a good meal. One of the traders' wives wore a long dress which buttoned all the way down the front. Instead of but- tons she had gold pieces sewed down the front of her dress. Army officers and their wives would stop there on their way to the fort which is now Fort Ripley. They would stop and have dinner and trade with the Indians. They also sat around and visited and had jolly times. Some of the officers' wives were very par- ticular about their beds and would in- sist that the bedding be changed while they stood around and watched but they were interesting guests and had so many stories to tell. Cecelia and Charles had a great time listening to them and running about doing lit- tle services for them. There was a regular stage coach route that passed this hotel. The coach would always stop so that the passengers could rest and have lunch if they wished. One of the stage coach drivers and Mrs. Bowers were very friendly. He liked to help her all he could so when he was a long way down the road he blew a loud whistle as many times as he had pas- sengers. If there were more than she expected that day, she could hurry about and make any extra prepara- tions that were necessary. In 1855 the Bowers family moved from this home into one further down the road. They built a large addition onto this house. This was used for a storage place for furs and all the traders and Indians used it for carry- ing on their trade. When trading among themselves, the Indians never used gold, but used Indian money called waumpun. It came in different sizes and shapes. Mrs. Charles Bowers of Anoka has some of this waumpun which her hus- band had saved. Later on in 1864 the railroad came through Itaska, as Ramsey was then called. Mr. J. C. Bowers was the first station agent and served for twelve years following the fall of 1864. The name of the little railroad station was later changed and called Dayton Port. He was also the first postmaster of Itaska. Mr. John Bowers had very little land with his home so when Charles E. Bowers grew older he obtained as much more land as he could. He was a personal friend of Mr. Ramsey who later became the first governor of Minnesota. He helped Charles secure most of the land. On this farm today can be seen ridges and hollows showing that the Indians had encamped there and had carried on battles. You can see where entrenchments had been thrown up around hollow places. Into these hol- lows the Indians placed the squaws and children while,they had their bat- 32 ties. Arrowheads in great numbers have been found and sent away for keepsakes. Indian warriors have been buried on this farm because so many dried bones and other signs have been found along the river. The water has washed away the mounds uncover- ing the dried bones. Mr. Goodrich at one time obtained permission from Mr. Bowers to collect, Indian relics from his farm. So much of the wacnn- pun and so many arrowheads were sent East to friends who kept asking for them that many are not left in the Anoka homes. It is an interesting' fact that this; i same farm still belongs to the Bower:; family which consists of Mrs. Charles E. Bowers and sons, C. Warren, Wal- ter D. and h'redrick .I. The two farm houses about which I have written are not the :;ante hnilc]- ings that stand on {hose sites today be.:ause both of the old buildings burned down some years ago. Information obtained from Mrs. W. D. Brimmer, 190:1 Sixth Ave. S., :1no- ka, Minn., and Mrs. Charles I', Bow- ers, 1870 Sixth Ave. S., Anoka, Minn. Constance Hilton, PUBLISHED IN ANOKA COUNTY UNION SOME TIME AGO